


Houston, I have so many problems.

by Sugarymemes



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Angst, College, College Student Keith (Voltron), College Student Lance (Voltron), College Student Shiro (Voltron), Developing Friendships, Developing Relationship, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Gender-Neutral Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Hurt/Comfort, Living Together, Minor Klance, Multi, Trans Character, Trans Pidge | Katie Holt, University, college student hunk (Voltron), college student pidge (voltron), minor shallura, tags to be updated, tw for future chapters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-23
Updated: 2017-07-19
Packaged: 2018-11-18 05:08:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,247
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11284332
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sugarymemes/pseuds/Sugarymemes
Summary: After her brother and father's disappearance, Katie Holt is determined to find out the truth about what happened to them. Armed with a laptop and a thirst for knowledge, she enrols in the Garrison University under the name of 'Pidge Gunderson' with the belief that her brother's would-be roommates know something more about the incident than meets the eye.Instead of finding criminal masterminds, she finds comfort in the residents of the Voltron dormitory, and respite from Katie Holt's miserable life - until she discovers the difficulties her new friends face. College isn't all it's cracked up to be when you're a princess or an orphan or mentally ill or gay, or any combination of the above. Plus, college courses are really difficult, not to mention those assholes in the Galra dorm on the floor below.Voltron college!au - AKA my summer writing project ♡ Feedback is greatly appreciated!





	1. ☆ One bowl of cereal

The very last thing Lance expected to find at 3am when he went into the kitchen to get some water was a complete stranger sitting at the table eating honey nut cheerios from HIS collector's little mermaid bowl. The stranger had messy and matted brown hair, large round glasses, and what Lance really hoped was dirt smudged across their right cheek.

He almost wasn't sure whether he was hallucinating or not as he froze in the doorway, watching as the figure slowly took another spoonful of cereal, giving him an acknowledging nod, before carelessly dropping the spoon back into the bowl with a loud clatter.

"Sup." The figure stated blankly, leaning back in their chair and stretching casually, as if the fact the fact that a total stranger eating cereal in his kitchen at 3am wasn't odd at all.  
Dumbfounded, Lance took a step back, running his fingers through his hair.  
"Who the hell are you, and why are you in my kitchen?" He asked, albeit in a much calmer and confident tone than he was feeling at that moment.

"I'm Pidge Gunderson, who the hell are you?"  
"Wha-" Lance's questioning was interrupted by Allura's door opening in the corridor behind him.  
"Lance, it's 3am. Please keep it down." She hissed, squinting at the light coming from the kitchen. He spun around to face her, just to see a look of surprise spread across her face at the sight of 'Pidge Gunderson'.

"Who's that?" She harshly whispered, stepping out of her room, as she tucked her silvery hair behind her ears and folded her arms.  
"I have no idea." Lance answered back in the same whispered tone, glancing back at the aforementioned Pidge.

"I just told you - I'm Pidge. Hi." They said, lazily waving their right hand in the air.  
"Are you someone's guest?" Allura asked in a polite a tone as she could manage, considering the fact that she was terrified and contemplating calling the police.  
"No, I live here." Pidge answered back in a matter-of-factly tone, leaning on the table casually.

"...I'm sorry, I don't think you do." Allura responded uncertainly.  
"Well, not yet, anyway. I'm supposed to be moving in?" They said, shrugging lightly.  
"Do you want me to go get Shiro?" Lance whispered under his breath to Allura, who quickly waved him away, shaking her head.  
"I'm sorry, but you need to leave now. If you're not a resident of these flats, and you're not a guest - which I assume you aren't, because overnight guests have to be at least 17 - then you aren't permitted to be here -" Allura seemed to burble mindlessly, as if it was a well rehearsed speech.

"Christ lady, I just told you, I'm moving in! Not my fault you don't listen." Pidge interrupted, in an irritated tone.  
"Besides, I'm... Older than seventeen." They muttered, folding their arms.  
"Hey, hey, don't talk to the princess like that," A new voice began as the aforementioned Shiro made his way down the corridor to the doorway where Allura and Lance stood staring at the cereal eating stranger who now claimed to live with them - and had been there for three days.

"Princess? God, you gotta be kidding me." Pidge muttered under her breath, slumping back in her chair.  
"Who's this?" Shiro asked, yawning and stretching slightly.  
"Someone who was just leaving." Pidge said, rising to her feet. "Bye." They said, giving a half-hearted wave as she picked a lime green backpack up from under the table and threw it over her shoulder.

"I suppose that since I technically don't live here yet, I don't need to clean the dishes." They murmured in a slightly chirpy tone, before turning to the empty bowl on the table and nodding lightly.  
"Cheers for the cereal, by the way. Good stuff. Buy more of that." She muttered to no one in particular, waving her hand lightly.

Pidge walked to the doorway, before pushing past them and leaving down the corridor.  
"Where are you going?" Lance called out to Pidge, who was rapidly disappearing down the corridor.  
"Class!" They called back, waving behind her casually, as if they didn't have a care in the world.

"It's three o'clock in the morning!" Lance yelled after her as they got to the door. They opened it, but not before turning to them and grinning.  
"I gotta get a good seat - see you soon!" And with that, they headed out of the door, slamming it shut behind her loudly.

There was a stunned silence for a few brief moments as they all tried to comprehend what exactly had just happened, which was neatly punctuated with the door to room V114 opening and a groggy looking Keith peeking his head out, his dark hair all stuck up and messy, his eyes squinted at the bright light of the corridor.

"Please, please, shut the FUCK up." He murmured, still half asleep, as he emphasised the expletive heavily.  
Lance tried to hold back a snicker, before bursting into peals of laughter.  
"Keith - Holy shit - your - your mullet!" He managed to choke out. Keith immediately raked his fingers through his hair.  
"What's wrong with it?" He asked cautiously.  
"You look like a shitty budget 80's Goku or something!"  
Keith further narrowed his eyes, shooting daggers at Lance who was still chuckling.

"Fuck you, Lance." He muttered, before heading back into his room, closing the door behind them.  
Allura quickly clapped her hands together, before she started physically shoving them towards their rooms.  
"Right, we'll get this all sorted out in the morning, but for now, off to bed! Come on!" She exclaimed, ushering them away.

"Jesus, Allura - we're in college! I'm not supposed to have a bedtime anymore!" Lance whined, as he tried to surpress a smile. Allura shook her head, before giving Lance one final push into his doorway, punctuating the conversation with a forceful "Goodnight, Lance." Before closing the door behind him. It was only then that Lance realised he hadn't actually gotten any water.

 

Around four hours later, Lance stumbled out of his room and into the kitchen, having put the strange events of last night down to a bad dream or something.  
"Morning Lance!" Hunk greeted him cheerily as he seemed to muddle around the kitchen, wiping already clean surfaces down, abolishing any invisible crumbs. He eyed the sink for any signs of his little mermaid bowl, but it mysteriously seemed to be absent from the piles of dirty dishes. Maybe it really was just a dream?

Lance's thoughts were interrupted by a groan from the usually sunny Hunk.  
"Aww man! Who finished the cheerios?" He exclaimed, puffing out his chest in mock frustration. Lance seated himself at the table, across from where Pidge had supposedly been sitting last night. He rubbed his face with his hands, leaning his elbows on the table pitifully.

"You seen Allura this morning?" Lance asked cautiously.  
"Yeah, she got up early. She was on the phone - super vexed about something, then she headed out." Hunk responded, obviously not sensing the gravity of the situation as he slotted two slices of bread into the toaster.  
"I thought she didn't have classes on a Thursday?"  
Hunk simply shrugged. "The miserable existence of a PhD student, I suppose."

As if they'd spoken of the devil, Hunk and Lance heard the door at the end of the corridor opened, then promptly slam shut as quick high heeled footsteps made their way up to the kitchen.  
"Unbelievable!" Allura's silvery voice exclaimed in frustration as she passed through the doorway, somehow managing to make anger look graceful as she dumped her handbag on the floor.

"That Pidge fellow is supposed to be living here - and on a scholarship no less! Two months into the semester!" Allura flopped down into one of the chairs dramatically, as she ran her fingers through her hair. Kicking off her high heels, Allura sunk back into the chair.  
"I'm meant to be the RA for this building! How am I supposed to do my job if no one tells me anything?" She groaned, rubbing her face with her hands.

Lance clicked his tongue and shook his head lightly. "Guess no one has any respect for royalty anymore." He said in an all too serious tone as Hunk tried to suppress a snicker.

There was a strange truth to Lance's words, as Allura's family were technically sovereigns to a small African monarchy known as Altea. It was supposedly a bit of a sore spot for Allura - so no one really asked questions about why a Princess had chosen to attend Garrison University for a PhD in law and international relations. But at the same time, the members of the Voltron dorm were incredibly grateful for their resident diplomat, as was very useful when sorting out matters such as this.

"Wait, where's Pigeon supposed to be living? I thought we only had..." Hunk counted off names on his fingers.  
"...Six rooms? And who is Pigeon anyway?"  
Allura sighed deeply. "It's Pidge, apparently. He paid us an impromptu visit last night while you were sleeping." She glanced towards the doorway.  
"He's taking room V115 - the one that was supposed to go to Matt."

Hunk nodded slowly in response to this, understanding her slight discomfort. Room V115 was assigned to one Matt Holt, an unfamiliar name to all of them. But he never actually turned up to the Garrison. Two weeks later it was in the news that he and his father had gone missing, their car abandoned in a ditch, the two gone without a trace.

Though the entire situation made them all quite uncomfortable, they weren't exactly sure how to deal with it. They didn't know Matt; they'd never met Matt. But still, something about his disappearance was unsettling. Apparently he'd been on his way to the Garrison, all his luggage left in the car, untouched. Hunk remembered how the police had come and questioned them all about a total stranger. They felt helpless - the entire ordeal considerably upsetting, though they felt that they had no right to feel like that, as if they were pretending to have some kind of relationship with Matt that really wasn't there.

Breaking through the silence, Lance spoke up.  
"So, when's he moving in?" He asked cautiously. Allura grimaced in response.  
"Today. Probably anytime from noon onward." She exhaled heavily.  
"At least I don't have classes today - I can show them around campus."  
Lance drummed his fingers on the table.  
"I can skip afternoon classes if you want me to help out?" He suggested eagerly, earning him a swipe from Hunk's tea towel.

"Lance!" He exclaimed, looking thoroughly offended.  
"You can't skip classes!" Lance gave a light and airy laugh.  
"Whatever, Hunk. You're like my dad or something." Hunk looked stunned for a moment, before laughing too.  
"No way! The role of dad goes to Shiro! Him and Allura are basically our parents." He said playfully, wiggling his eyebrows at Allura, who simply scowled at him in response.

"Besides, it's Haggar today. Believe me when I say that I won't lose sleep over missing one of her classes." Lance muttered mournfully.  
Hunk shrugged nonchalantly in response.  
"Whatever you want, buddy."

A burning aroma started to fill the kitchen as Allura sniffed the air.  
"What's that smell? Is something burning?" She asked cautiously as Hunk ran over to the toaster cursing. Pulling out to charred bits of toast, he held them up to Lance and Allura, a grin starting to form on his face. He had the uncanny ability to make light of any bad situation.

"Breakfast is served!" He offered, cheerfully, as Allura laughed and Lance furrowed his brows at his friend.  
"God, Hunk - Are you really going to eat that?"  
Hunk dropped the pieces of toast on the counter, and turned to Lance, a look of shock blooming across his face as he held his chest.  
"Rude! It's for you! I thought I'd be a good friend and make breakfast, but if you're just going to be ungrateful..."

Lance rose from his seat. "Thank you Hunk, but I'm just so full that I couldn't possibly." He said, mimicking Allura. She'd said the exact same thing when Shiro had made them all spaghetti, that had somehow suffered the same fate as the toast. It wasn't that Shiro was a bad cook - it was that he was a fucking awful cook who was banned from using the kitchen without adequate supervision. ("Guys! I'm like 2 years older than you!" "Yeah, and you just microwaved a fork.")

"I'm gonna go get a shower." Lance stated, waving a casual goodbye to Hunk and Allura as he headed towards the doorway.  
"I think Keith's in the shower?" Hunk offered, a wary smile on his face as Lance groaned, lightly hitting his head on the door frame in frustration.

"Ughhhhh... Screw that." After the whole Lance-lock-the-goddamn-cubicle debacle in the second week, Lance and Keith absolutely refused to use the bathroom at the same time as each other, and Lance had taken to wearing a bathing suit in the shower, 'Just in case.' Keith's deafening screeches had haunted them all for weeks to come.

Allura stretched, cracking her neck, making Hunk wince.  
"Right, I should get things sorted for our new arrival." She said, somewhat eagerly.  
"Sort what exactly?" Hunk asked, raising an eyebrow.  
Allura turned to him, bright blue eyes shining, and unnervingly unblinking.  
"Things." She murmured softly, as if that was the be-all-end-all answer to every single one of the universe's questions.


	2. ☆ Two pieces of luggage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pidge refuses to trust these strangers who have already welcomed Pidge into their lives.  
> Considering the alternative is the Galra creeps on the floor below, she allows herself to be welcomed a little bit.

Whenever there was an elderly lady needing some help crossing the street, or a homeless person needing a friendly smile and some spare change - Hunk Garrett was always there to help. That's just the kind of person that he was. So when he saw a short person with wild untamed hair struggling with a large cardboard box and a bike, he was already jogging over, ready as ever to help them.

"Hey!" He called out, a friendly smile forming on his face. Pidge looked up to see him as they tried to simultaneously lock their bike up and carry a box, a look of curiosity and caution shining in their eyes.  
"Need some help?" Hunk asked, holding out his hands for the cardboard box. Pidge studied his face carefully, for any signs of ill intention. There was some considerably important stuff in that box, and they couldn't risk losing it because they were just a little bit too trustworthy of a stranger.

"Oh, no, I'm fine." They said, shifting the box so it was balanced on their right hip as they brushed a lock of hair from their eyes and pushed up their glasses a little.  
A look of disappointment was present across Hunk's face for a brief moment, before being replaced with a reassuring smile.  
"Okay, if you're sure!" He responded brightly. Pidge gave a slight nod as they locked their bike securely into the rack, giving it a slight tug to make sure it couldn't be taken. They said nothing, but Hunk was already filling the silence.

"I haven't seen you around before - are you here to visit someone?" He asked as Pidge started to walk away. He quickly followed after them, Pidge's small steps, weighed down with a huge box, were no match for Hunk's strides.  
They shook their head, pursing their lips into a narrow line.  
"Actually, I'm moving in." They said shyly, hoisting the box up a little, as if reinforced their intentions.

Hunk raised his eyebrows in surprise, as he sported a pleased smile.  
"Oh!" He exclaimed, eyes shining in excitement at the prospect of this.  
"Hang on - are you Pidge?" He asked, as Pidge stopped in their tracks for a brief moment, before continuing walking.  
"Uh, yeah." They said quietly, looking up at Hunk, wondering how the hell and why the hell this stranger seemed to know who they were. It was fine when Pidge was the one doing the freaking out, but when Pidge was the one on the receiving end - they didn't like it much. Sure, it was a bit hypocritical, but they felt like they had every right.

He didn't seem to notice their incriminating gaze however, simply nodding eagerly in response.  
"Aww man, you really freaked out my buddy Lance with your stunt last night in the kitchen." Hunk said, laughing airily.  
"Lance?" Pidge asked quizzically, receiving an affirming nod in response.  
"Yeah, brown hair, bit like a beanpole? He's a nice guy."

"Uh-huh..."

"No, really he is. Him and Allura have been waiting all day for you."

"Do you live with them?"

"Yeah! I'm in V112 - you're supposed to be in V115, right? I'm Hunk, by the way. Whup! After you!" Hunk trailed off, opening the door in front of the two of them. Pidge hadn't even noticed that they'd made it to the dorms, and adjusted the box in their arms.

"Cheers." They muttered, as Hunk led the way through the door, Pidge following behind, albeit slowly, the box weighing them down considerably.

"So, if you're moving in, where's all your stuff?" Hunk asked, as he pressed the button for the elevator.  
"Huh?" Pidge said, looking up to him a little.  
"I mean, is that it? One box?"  
Pidge gave a slight shrug, really quite unsure of what to say.  
"I pack light. Besides, I've got my backpack too." They said, smiling a little as they turned around, showing off their lime green backpack.  
"Oh, cool." Hunk responded, smiling too as the elevator doors opened to reveal a tall figure - even taller than Hunk - with long white hair.

"Oh." Hunk muttered dismally upon seeing the figure.  
"Well, if it isn't the jolly yellow giant!" The individual exclaimed, laughing a little.  
"Pidge, this is Lotor. He lives on the floor below us."  
The aforementioned Lotor held out his hand in greeting, with a dazzling smile that seemed a little insincere.  
"Lovely to meet you." He said, eyes shining with something that wasn't friendliness. Pidge adjusted the box in their arms a little, hoping this 'Lotor' would get the message, even thugh they had no interest in shaking hands at all.

"Going up?" Lotor asked, as Pidge shifted their way into the elevator, struggling slightly with the box.  
"Yeah, floor above you, I guess." They said, shrugging casually.  
Lotor pressed the button, then narrowed his eyes at Hunk, almost glowering at him, as he gave a seemingly ghoulish grin.  
"Sorry, no room." He said, quickly smashing the 'Close doors' button, leaving both Pidge and Hunk stunned as the doors closed between them.

"So, what are you studying?" Lotor asked confidently, almost slinking around Pidge.  
"Uh, computer science with artificial intelligence." They murmured in response, becoming increasingly conscious of just how close Lotor was getting.  
"Wow - smart cookie." He commented, folding his arms and smirking slightly. Pidge had no idea what to say in response to this, so they simply kept silent, willing the elevator to hurry up a little.

"You oughta watch out for those Voltron guys though." Lotor lamented.

"What do you mean?"

He simply shook his head, pursing his lips together a little.

"I'll tell you some other time." Right on cue, the doors opened and Lotor stepped past Pidge, giving an unsettling wave with long skinny fingers, before turning on his heel, white hair billowing behind them.  
The doors closed as Pidge pondered what exactly he'd meant. In the silence and solitude, Pidge shut their eyes, taking a deep breath in, and out again.  
They tried to remember exactly why they were doing this. These people knew something. Pidge was sure of it.

They raised the lid from the box a little with shaking hands. Peeking inside, fond eyes make contact with a crumpled photograph. They gave a small smile as the smiling figures of Matt and themself looked back at them, grinning for the camera. Herself. Her. Pidge let the lid drop, sighing slightly. No, right now she was they. If she wouldn't be him, they was the next best thing and she just had to suck it up.  
They just had to suck it up. 

Shaking their head to clear their thoughts, the elevator doors opened to a concerned looking and slightly out of breath Hunk.  
"Oh gosh, I'm sorry. Lotor can be a bit of creep." Hunk said, panting a little.

"It's fine."

"Yeah, sure. Come on - this way!"

"I've been here before." Pidge said, following after him.

"In the middle of the night though." He paused for a moment, turning to face Pidge who had both eyebrows raised.  
"Dude, just humour me." He said opening the door to the Voltron corridor.

"Hey guys! I'm back!" He called out to the empty hallway.  
"In the kitchen!" Allura called back in an almost melodic tone. Pidge decided that she sounded much friendlier when she was fully awake, and not trying to rid her kitchen of an intruder.

"I brought someone," Hunk noted, smiling, as he made his way into the kitchen.  
"Oh?" Allura asked, raising a perfect eyebrow.  
Pidge followed in behind, dumping the box on the floor.  
"Hey." They said, giving a small wave. Allura was sitting at the table, reading through some papers, but upon seeing Pidge she jumped to her feet.

"Oh! Pidge! Lovely to meet you. I'm Allura, your RA. Come, come, I'll show you your room." She said quickly. If she was a little flustered, her body language didn't show it, she was as poised and as graceful as ever, making Pidge wonder if the 'Princess' comment last night hadn't been a joke.  
They appreciated the fact that Allura hadn't mentioned the night before - it wasn't that they minded, or that they were embarrassed - but they didn't really feel like explaining why they'd decided that breaking into a college kitchen was a good idea, or how they had done so. (The answer? Fucking around with electromagnets enough to jam the signal.)  
They'd received their student ID that morning. A shiny piece of hard plastic that said 'PIDGE GUNDERSON' along with a picture on Pidge, practically scowling at the camera. The student ID gave her access to all buildings on campus, so there was no need for electromagnets any more. They were only a little mournful of that fact.

Allura led them to their room, Pidge following behind, feeling a little bit like a lost puppy.  
"Here we go." Allura said with a smile, gesturing to the door as if she'd just produced the room out of thin air.

The room, like all the other rooms, had a wooden door and a handle with a slot in it, which Pidge assumed is where they put the student ID to unlock it.  
It had a silver plaque reading 'V115' in large black letters. Underneath that was a white sticky label that read 'Pidge Gunderson' in neat cursive, a heart dotting the 'i'. Pidge glanced around to the other doors. Instead of white labels, the had identical plaques to the ones dictating the room number displaying their names. Pidge looked back their own door, staring hard at the label.  
Did that mean...?

Pidge was already in the process of peeling off the label before Allura interjected with a "Wait-!".  
They inhaled sharply as the peeled off the label, only to be faced with the words 'MATT HOLT' - big and bold, and very much painfully so.  
"I apologise, we didn't have time to get a new sign made - " Allura began, before Pidge interrupted her, swallowing down the awful lump in their throat.

"Who... Who was Matt Holt?" They asked, trying desperately to stop their voice from wavering too much.

"He was supposed to take this room, but... Unforseen circumstances meant that he was unable to attend the Garrison."

'Unforseen circumstances'? Pidge wondered who she thought she was fooling with that bullshit. It upset them considerably - that they were already lying. They just wanted answers. They just wanted their family back.  
"Okay," Pidge said, as casually as they could manage.  
"D'you mind if I get myself settled in? I'll properly meet everyone later." They promised, as Allura eagerly nodded in agreement, probably glad to have an escape from the awkward conversation.

Pidge unlocked the door, and opened in to face a sad and barren room. In any other situation, they would've decorated. They could almost imagine the posters on the wall - the fairy lights strung from the ceiling. All the wonderful comforts of home that they'd left behind in favour of strangers that they was supposed to hate.  
Taking off their backpack, it was thrown on the bed. They plopped themselves down next to it, running their fingers through their hair as they tried to reason as to why the hell they'd enrolled in college.  
They were seventeen.  
They were doing it for their family.  
They probably didn't know anything.  
They might know something.

It was only at this point that they'd realised they'd left their box in the kitchen. Cursing under their breath, they desperately tried to find the motivation to get up and go retrieve it, but the idea of facing anyone sounded awful and they just wanted to be alone.  
Their thoughts were rudely interrupted by a knock on the door.

"I think it's open!" Pidge called out towards the door, as Hunk peeked his head around.  
"I brought your box."  
Pidge jumped up off the bed as quickly made their way over to the door, opening it fully and holding out their arms to receive it.  
"Oh, thanks." They muttered, almost snatching the box from his hands.

"No problem, I'll see you later." He said, giving a jaunty wave as he headed back down the corridor.  
Pidge let out a breath that they didn't know they'd be holding as they set the box down on the ground. They took off the lid, smiling as their eyes met those of picture Katie and picture Matt.

Trembling fingers took the picture from the box, smoothing it out a little before Pidge held it close to their chest. Looking around the room, Pidge quickly made their way to the desk, setting the picture down so that it was propped up against the wall.

Deep breath in,

Deep breath out.

It'll be fine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope that you're all enjoying this so far ♡
> 
> This is a pretty self indulgent fic - I know stuff like this isn't too popular but whatever, I suppose.
> 
> If you do read this, comments and critiques are really appreciated !! Thank you xx


	3. ☆ Three in the backseat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Of course, getting Mcdonalds was a great idea. What could possibly go wrong?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Mention and detailed description of panic attack in chapter.

Pidge emerged from V115 a number of hours later, desperately trying to ignore the peeling label on the door. Allura had tried to stick it back on, but it was already coming off again, revealing 'MATT'. They wished the plaque wasn't so permanent. Yet, they almost felt like they were cheating his memory somehow - taking his place.  
Pidge made their way into the kitchen giving a light wave as they looked around. There were five people, not counting themself. So that meant everyone in the dorm must be there.

"Hi." They said flatly, as all eyes seemed to turn to the doorway.  
"Oh! Pidge!" Hunk exclaimed, smiling. "Are you done unpacking? Here, here, sit down." He continued, pulling out a chair and patting it lightly. Pidge made their way across to him and sat down, feeling a little mournful as they realised their feet didn't actually reach the floor, instead dangling precariously a few centimetres above the linoleum.

"This is Shiro," Hunk said, gesturing to the man on the other side of him. He had a black undercut, and a strange fluffy white tuft at the front. Shiro gave a small friendly wave, smiling along with Hunk.  
"And this is Keith." Hunk continued, pointing to a scowling figure with a black mullet and a red jacket sitting on the counter.  
"And of course you've already met Lance and Allura." Pidge nodded slowly at all of them, fidgeting a little as they took a lock of hair in between their fingertips and started plaiting it.

"Now that he's here, can we go get dinner?" Keith interjected, bitterly. Pidge winced at the use of the word 'he', and Lance noticed, mouthing "You okay?" across the table. Pidge chose to ignore him in favour of Shiro, whom had just started speaking.

"Yeah, we were waiting for you. Hunk usually cooks but we were thinking of getting Mcdonalds as a special occasion?" He said hopefully, turning to Pidge as Lance cheered, punching the air.

"Yeah, I could go for chicken nuggets." Pidge said, shrugging casually.

"I could murder a cheeseburger." Keith added, rubbing his hands together devilishly as Shiro frowned at him.  
"No, you can't. The cheeseburger will end up murdering you, Keith." Shiro responded firmly as Keith folded his arms muttering a quiet "Man, fuck that." under his breath.

"Keith's lactose intolerant." Hunk whispered to Pidge, who nodded quickly as Keith shot the two of them a death glare.  
"Yeah, IN-TOL-ER-ANT, Shiro. It's not gonna kill me." Keith added, enunciating the word.  
"But it fucks you up for like, a week." Lance added pointedly as Keith jumped down from the counter.

"Pfft - whatever, Lance. Are we going or not?"  
Shiro rose to his feet, turning to Allura.  
"You coming too?"

Allura wrinkled her nose in response.  
"Eat that processed crap? Yeah, no thanks."

"Hey - everything in moderation!" Hunk added indignantly, getting up as well, Pidge following suit.

"Just cause' you eat shitty vegan gluten free mush doesn't mean we have to." Lance noted, shrugging, as Allura raised an eyebrow. 

"It's called coeliac disease, Lance. And I don't eat 'mush' - I just have a sensitive stomach."

"You say tomayto, I say alien." He shot back, getting up.

"Lance, don't say that - " Shiro interjected, jumping to Allura's defense.

Allura-is-an-alien was a running joke within the group, mostly due to her strange diet and the fact that she had no knowledge of any sort of western culture. It made movie nights quite interesting though, so it wasn't all bad - especially when they managed to convince her that Hogwarts was a real place and Harry Potter was a documentary.

"Whatever - can we go now? I wanna eat Mozzarella sticks in Keith's stupid face." Lance butted in, quickly growing impatient.

"Yeah, as long as you do anything but that. You wanna take blue?" Shiro asked, as they all shuffled out of the doorway, leaving Allura sitting at the table, shuffling through papers, shaking her head in exasperation at the five of them.

"Oh, no way am I driving in that piece of crap." Keith added, crossing his arms. Just as Lance opened his mouth to argue back, Pidge interrupted with a squeak of "Are we driving?", their voice coming out a lot more anxious than they meant it to.

"Yeah, is that a problem?" Shiro answered, as the others all turned to face Pidge, with quizzical expressions.

"No - no! It's... It's just such nice day? Why don't we walk?"

"Because Mcdonalds is like 20 miles away. I'd rather go in blue than walk that." Keith pointed out before turning to Shiro with a pleading look in his eyes.  
"Can't we go in the BMW?" He asked desperately.

Shiro shook his head in response to his pleas. "No way, Keith."

Keith seemed to almost stamp his foot, somehow reminding them all of a small child. "But whyyy?" He whined, and no one really quite knew if he was kidding or not.

"You know why, Keith." Shiro said firmly. "Because - "

"NO FOOD IN THE BMW!" The others (Bar Pidge) and said in unison rolling their eyes, as Shiro gave a sheepish grin.  
"We could eat in?" Keith pleaded desperately, trying to get Shiro to budge on his decision.

"Aww, come on Keithy - don't be rude." Lance added, wrapping an arm around Pidge.  
"Despite what Keith says, I'm actually a pretty decent driver." He said, leaning into them, before whispering "Besides, no one's called shotgun yet."

"Shotgun!" Keith called immediately, taking off in a sprint down the corridor.  
"Hey! You can't call shotgun until you're in the parking lot!" Hunk called after Keith, before running after him. Lance looked behind him to face Shiro.  
"You wanna squish up in the back, big guy?" Lance asked, as Shiro raised his eyebrows.  
"Nah, fuck that." He said, grinning, before joining in with the race, practically leaping down the corridor.

 

Truth be told, the last car that Pidge had been in was a police car taking them and their mother to the police station after their father's car had been found, crashed and abandoned in a ditch on some side road. Pidge had ended up having some awful anxiety fuelled breakdown, and vomited on some poor police woman, and hadn't been in a car since. It wasn't that they hadn't tried, but they could never quite bring themselves to sit in any metal death-traps without having a panic attack. Riding a bike everywhere got old quickly, but they'd rather have pulled muscles than hyperventilating.

So standing in front of Lance's car, Pidge took a deep breath in and out, desperately trying to will themselves to get in the goddamn car.  
"She's a beauty, ain't she?" Lance said wistfully, standing next to Pidge, swinging the keys around on his finger as the others fought over the the front doorhandle.

Pidge looked over the ancient car, noticing scratches and dents littering the bonnet and the car doors. Pidge wasn't even sure if it would start.  
"Uh, yeah. It's great."

"Hunk keeps her right - don't ya?" Lance said calling over to Hunk who gave him a grin and a two fingered salute.  
"That I do, buddy. Which is exactly why I should get to ride up front." 

"I ain't opening her up until you all stand back," He said, glancing over to Pidge and winking. "Besides, driver has ultimate power, so that means I get to pick who goes in first class."

Sighing, the others moved away, looking hopeful as Lance stroked his chin thoughtfully, before smiling widely and turning to Pidge.  
"Little Pigeon - you go right ahead!" He said happily, Pidge not sharing in his jubiliance as Keith sputtered indignantly.  
"They're new, so they get to go up front. Be nice Keith." Lance said teasingly, opening up the car and pushing Pidge forwards gently.

"No - really, it's fine - " They began to mumble nervously, trying to dig their heels into the tarmac to avoid getting in that awful thing.  
"Nonsense. Now come on, get in! The rest of you sinners can get in the back."

Grumbling, the others squished into the backseat, Lance enjoying exercising his power over all of them. Though they were all unhappy about Lance's decision, they were each kind of glad that Lance hadn't chosen between them as it would have created a lot of unnecessary upset. Besides, they all quite liked Pidge - even if they knew exactly nothing about them.

With one final push from Lance, Pidge reluctantly and shakily clambered into the vehicle, feeling very small in the expanse of the passenger seat.  
Lance went round the other side of the car and climbed in, shuffling a little in his seat, before clicking his seatbelt and adjusting the mirror.

"You guys alright in the back?" He asked, craning his neck to see them as Shiro nodded and Hunk gave a thumbs up. Keith - squished in the middle between the two of them - shot Lance an awful glare, brows furrowed.

"Don't make faces like that, Keith. You'll get wrinkles."

"Fuck you. Let's go already - I'm starving."

"Yeah, whatever mullet."

He then turned to Pidge, who was focusing hard on a speck of dirt on the windscreen, a feeling of dread and nausea buzzing in Pidge's stomach as they desperately tried not to pass out in Lance's car.

"You good Pigeon?"

Don'tpanicDon'tpanicDon'tpanicDon'tpanicDon'tpanicDon'tpanicDon'tpanicDon'tpanicDon'tpanicDon'tpanicDon'tpanicDon'tpanicDon'tpanicDon'tpanicDon'tpanic

"Pidge?"

It'llbefineIt'llbefineIt'llbefineIt'llbefineIt'llbefineIt'llbefineIt'llbefineIt'llbefineIt'llbefineIt'llbefineIt'llbefineIt'llbefineIt'llbefineIt'llbefineIt'llbefineIt'llbefine

Lance reached out to touch their arm gingerly, and Pidge jumped slightly, snapping out of their thoughts.  
"You alright?" Lance asked, as Pidge looked at him, their hazel eyes meeting his blue ones that were full of concern. They looked away quickly.

"Peachy." They spat out. Lance raised an eyebrow, unconvinced, and Pidge turned away, staring out of the window, ripping at a hangnail in a desperate attempt at distraction.

"You gonna put on your seatbelt?"

"Hm?"

"Seatbelt. Car ain't budging till everyone's belted in."

"Oh... Sorry." They muttered as trembling fingers fumbled to click it into place. Satisfied, Lance nodded, leaning back in his car seat and turning the key in the ignition. The engine roared to life with an awful sound, which was quickly covered up by the radio which had started blaring out some loud Spanish music that Lance was already singing along to happily as he pulled the car out of the parking spot, Pidge's stomach lurched as the car shuddered out of the parking lot and onto the main road.

Pidge shut their eyes, and wrapped their arms around themself, desperately trying to hold themselves together because they were afraid that otherwise they'd fall apart - shatter into a million pieces. They tried to take deep breaths in and out but they only seemed to manage shallow wheezes as their heart rate sped up and tears pricked their eyes, threatening to spill.

Their breaths seemed to become quicker and quicker and they felt like they were suffocating in the tiny vehicle. They opened their eyes, trying to focus on the road ahead - on the trees - on anything else at all. The cars racing past seemed to lurch threateningly close to the car, and they were becoming very aware of how careless Lance's driving was as they went over a pothole and Pidge's stomach did somersaults.

Breathe, they tried to tell themself.

BREATHE, they commanded themself.

You're safe. You're not going to crash. You're not going to die. It's okay. Just breathe. Breathe. For fuck's sake breathe!

They were suffocating. 

Shaking hands desperately tried to roll the window down to get some air but they couldn't quite get a grip and they ended up just pathetically scratching at the door. They needed to get out, right now.

"Lance." They gasped out, hardly a whisper, unheard over the blare of the engine.  
They couldn't wait for him to stop.  
Pidge started unclipping their seatbelt and grabbing at Lance's arms, as they hyperventilated and shook wildly.

"Pidge! What the hell are you doing?" Lance yelled out as he swerved, swatting Pidge's waving hands away. He glanced over to them for a minute and saw the absolute panic plastered across their face, the tears, the desperation. 

He immediately slammed on the brakes and Pidge hadn't even waited for the car to come to a complete stop before they opened the door and started to crawl out, rolling onto the grassy banking, shivering and sobbing as they curled in on themself, wanting the world to just go away.

Lance brought the car to a halt, turning off the engine and opening his car door with no mind for oncoming traffic as he ran round the front of his car to the shaking pile on the ground.

"Jesus - Pidge, are you okay?" He asked, kneeling down next to them. The others got out of the car too, rushing to Pidge's side, murmuring concerns and receiving no response from Pidge.  
Hunk reached out a hand, and started to rub their back in soothing circles. Pidge immediately shyed away from the touch, shifting a little to the side as they attempted to clamber to their knees. 

They wiped their face with their sleeve - removing dirt and grime and tears.  
"Sorry." They murmured, silencing the rest of them.  
"You don't need to be sorry!" Hunk exclaimed, albeit a little too loudly. Pidge winced at the sound, facing away from them as they ungracefully rose to their feet, wiping off scraped knees. Shiro held their elbow, supporting them as they stumbled. Pidge looked up to him, expecting to see a look of frustration, but instead only finding concern in his eyes. 

"Are you okay?" He asked, the look on his face meaning more than words ever could. He reminded them of Matt. Everything reminded them of Matt. Pidge looked away to the ground, shrugging their arm out of Shiro's grasp.  
"I'm fine. Sorry."

"You don't... You don't need to go to the hospital or anything? What happened?" Pidge offered him no answer.  
"Nothing happened. Sorry."

"Stop apologising." Keith supplied, in a much harsher tone than he meant. He winced at his own voice.

"It didn't seem like nothing - I think that was a really bad panic attack or something." Lance added, rubbing his own arms, his eyebrows knitted together in concern.

"I'd feel better if you went and got checked over. Lance can drive you. Or I can, whatever you want." Shiro murmured in a soft tone. At the mention of the word 'drive' Pidge winced and slowly started to walk away in the direction that they'd just come from. 

"Hey - wait!" Hunk called out after them. They heard Lance say something in Spanish then they heard muttering between them. They heard car doors slamming and the screech of tires. They exhaled, finally able to breathe. 

It was only then that they heard footsteps coming up behind them. They didn't turn to see who it was, but the owners of the footsteps spoke before Pidge had to, breaking the silence that seemed to be both peaceful and painful at the same time.

"Lance and Keith are going to get food, and we'll walk you back." Shiro said, smiling when Pidge looked up to him.

"You really don't need to." Pidge muttered, even though they were very grateful for their presences.

"We want to." Hunk added, in the same light tone as Shiro.

"I just... I'm sorry, I don't like cars." The murmured quietly, wrapping their arms around themself.

"It's okay, you don't need to explain." Shiro said, stretching slightly.

"Come on - let's get you cleaned up. You've got mud all over your shirt." Hunk noted, causing Pidge to look down and find that there was in fact mud all over their shirt, completely soiling the NASA logo. Pidge couldn't help but laugh a little.

 

"We're back - and we brought Mcdonalds!" Lance yelled out triumphantly as he and Keith burst in through the door. Lance tried to do a fanfare as he and Keith strided proudly down the corridor, waving the bags in the air.  
The two went into the kitchen to find Hunk and Shiro sitting casually, Shiro's feet resting on the table.  
"Ew - gross Shiro! Get your feet down, we eat there." Keith snapped, dumping his share of bags on the table and shoving Shiro's feet off.

"Where's Pidge?" Lance asked, looking around.  
"In their room." Hunk said, already rifling through the bags to see what food there was. Keith slapped his hands away.  
"God, you two have the table manners of animals." He lamented, collapsing into a chair as Shiro raised an eyebrow.  
"Keith, I've literally seen you eat spaghetti with your hands."

Keith snorted. "Yeah, when I was like four."

Hunk suppressed a snicker before contributing with "That was literally last week." Keith made an indignant sound in response as Lance rolled his eyes and headed out of the kitchen and over to V115 - now Pidge's room.

Arms full of food, he had no hands to knock on the door, so he opted for kicking it slightly with his foot. Finding that the door pushed open slightly with his kick, he shrugged, and pushed it open fully, walking into the room.

"Hey, Pidge, got you some - "  
Lance's voice trailed off as he found Pidge with a green shirt halfway on, wearing what looked like a black binder underneath.  
A black binder.  
A binder.  
Did that mean...?

The pair of them froze, before everything seemed to move at ten times the speed, Pidge shrieking and hastily putting the shirt on, Lance apologising profuselyand trying to back out of the room, Pidge swearing at him, as they grabbed their backpack, Lance losing his footing, falling backwards, spilling coke and fries all over the floor, Pidge leaping over him and practically sprinting down the corridor and out of the door, leaving Lance lying on the carpet in a pool of coca cola.

It was times like this that Lance knew the only thing he could do was sigh, and mournfully eat a coke covered French fry. And so he did just that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this is probably my favourite chapter ♡ Hope that you all like it too!  
> Please do comment or bookmark if you enjoy this - it really makes my day!! Xx


	4. ☆ Four soggy chicken nuggets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pidge is told some disturbing things from a source that isn't entirely trustworthy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Reference & minor discussion of self harm, also minor mention of conversion therapy. Please stay safe and be careful when reading! ♡

Groaning, Lance rubbed his face with both hands as the others emerged from the kitchen.  
"What the hell was that?" Keith asked with a raised eyebrow looking down at Lance lying in the doorway.  
"Keith, I fucked up." He murmured, sighing, as he spread out his arms and stared up at the ceiling.  
"Yeah, no shit. Allura's gonna kill you for that carpet. No way we're getting our deposit back now." Keith noted in an irritated tone, as Lance heaved himself to an upright position.

"No, Pidge. I fucked up with Pidge." Lance mumbled, running his fingers through his hair.  
"Yeah, we saw him running past. What'd you do?" Hunk asked, leaning against the wall.  
"Them." Lance muttered, uncertainly.  
"What?"  
"I think Pidge likes them. Not he - but - I saw... Oh, fuck I don't know!" He exclaimed throwing his arms in the air in frustration, still lying on the floor mournfully.

"Does it matter?" Keith questioned, folding his arms as Shiro moved to help Lance up, reaching out his hand - not the prosthetic of course - he kept that well hidden under long sleeves, in his pockets, behind his back. No one had mentioned anything and he honestly wasn't sure if that was because they hadn't noticed or they were just too polite.

"Look, we can ask Pidge when they get back. Where'd they go? What happened?" Shiro supplied, looking the cola covered Lance up and down.  
The aforementioned simply shook his head.  
"It's... Not my place to tell. I don't know where they went." He said pinching at his shirt.  
"What the hell does that mean?" Keith interjected bitterly - Lance opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by the door opening as Allura paraded through, a frown plastered across her face.

"Did something happen with Pidge? I saw them but they just seemed to - what the hell is that?" Allura ran forward, unwrapping the pink silk scarf from around her neck as she got on her hands and knees by the stain on the carpet. Muttering to herself, she desperately tried to soak up the liquid as Lance exhaled deeply, a grave look on his face.

"We're... Not really sure." He murmured, shaking his head. "We think they had a panic attack, then I saw something - and then they just ran."

Allura looked up to him, abandoning her scarf on the floor.

"I think they were crying." She seemed to almost whisper, pursing her lips together in a narrow line as she wrapped her arms around herself.

"What did you see?"

"It's not my place to say."

"Lance - "

"They wouldn't want me to tell you." 

Allura looked slightly deflated, and puffed out her cheeks before scrambling to her feet, retrieving her handbag from where it had been dropped on the ground in her haste to clean up the mess - which was now being ignored in favour of whatever else was on her mind.

"Why can't you tell me?" She pleaded, sighing slightly.

"It's... private. Personal. I don't think they'd want everyone knowing."

"I'm going to call student guidance." She expressed plainly, as she opened up her handbag and started rooting around for her phone.   
"What? No!" Lance exclaimed, darting forward to try and grab Allura's bag from her arms. She quickly lifted it from his grasp, shooting Lance an exasperated look.  
"I have to, Lance. It's for safeguarding."

"There's nothing unsafe about it!" He shot back, as Shiro rested his hand on Lance's shoulder, swallowing slightly at Lance's impulsive comment. Allura looked slightly taken aback as well - but quickly recomposed herself.

"I know you're worried about them, and you want to protect them - but nothing bad is going to happen." She said soothingly, trying to reassure him. Shiro gave Lance a nervous smile, seemingly on the same wavelength as Allura.  
"We can get them some help - some therapy or - "

Lance quickly shrugged Shiro's hand off of his shoulder and spun around to look at him, shocked and offended at the notion.  
"What the hell do you mean 'therapy'?! Isn't conversion therapy illegal now? What the fuck - " Lance exclaimed, looking between Shiro and Allura with a disgusted look on his face.

Keith sighed, furrowing his brows. "Christ, Shiro. I gotta say that I'm with Lance on this one. Conversion therapy is fucked up."

"Who said anything about conversion therapy?" Shiro asked, defensively, raising his arms up.

"You did!" 

Hunk desperately tried to diffuse the situation, standing in between Shiro and Keith. "Hey, hey. Pidge seemed pretty comfortable in their own skin. I'm sure they don't need therapy or anything like that." He paused for a moment, looking directly at Shiro before frowning. "Seriously though? Conversion therapy? Not cool."

Shiro buried his face in his hands. "In what universe does conversion therapy have anything to do with Pidge self harming?" He murmured, muffled by his hands, before looking at them all through his fingers. Upon seeing their horrified looks, his eyes quickly widened as he realised the gravity of what he'd just said.

"Oh my God, I'm sorry, shit - "

"Binding! Isn't! Self! Harming!" Lance exclaimed, lurching forward to Shiro, only to be held back by Hunk, whom was attempting (And failing) to shush him.  
"Binding? What?" Allura asked, as Lance spun around to look at her.   
"You're going to get student guidance involved and fuck Pidge up just because they're binding! That's none of our business - it's their choice, and we have no right to - "

"Pidge is binding?" Allura interrupted, in a confused tone. A stunned silence seemed to hang in the air, before Lance broke it.  
"Yes! What did you think they were doing?"

Allura looked absolutely horrified, her eyes almost welling up with tears as she struggled for words that seemed to evade her.  
"I thought - Oh, God, I thought - " She stuttered out, before shutting her eyes and running her fingers through her hair. Allura took a deep breath, before opening her eyes.  
"Okay, just to be absolutely clear, Pidge isn't self harming?"

"Yes."

"Wait - so, they are?"

"No! Like, yes they aren't."

"They're binding? So they're trans?"

Lance sighed, before leaning against the wall, avoiding eye contact with them all.

"... Look, I didn’t explicitly say anything, and outing them is the last thing I want to do. Take from that what you will."

Allura nodded slowly in response to this.  
"Right. Okay." She paused for a moment.  
"Okay, right." She repeated again, furrowing her brow as if in deep thought. Her eyes levitated to the stain on the ground, as she nudged a chicken nugget with her heel. Even when she was just attending classes - Allura always seemed to be impeccably dressed. She was incredibly well respected throughout the university, treated as staff and an equal not just because of her status, but as a recognition of her abilities. After finishing her PhD, she'd already received several job offers from highly successful companies.

She'd always prided herself in her ability to know exactly what to do - but in this moment, she was clueless. She knew that she wasn't their mothers, that she didn't need to look after them and protect them the way she did, but she supposed that it was just her nature. She desperately wanted to help them all in whatever way she could - keep them happy, and safe. Allura was mature well beyond her years, and the others knew that, and they expected her to know what to do. She didn't know what to do.

"I'm... I'm going to call Coran. He works in guidance, I'll ask him to keep an eye out - "  
She frowned for a moment, looking uncertain.  
"And we'll clean up the mess. We'll clean up the mess and then we'll apologise to Pidge and it'll all be fine." Allura finished, nodding definitely.

"There's no way in hell I'm touching soggy French fries." Keith added, bitterly, as Lance playfully slapped him on the back, his mood suddenly and considerably brightened.  
"Congrats mullet! You get the job of cleaning the carpet while me and Hunk pick up a couple of chicken nuggets."   
Keith scowled at him, and opened his mouth to shoot back a retort towards Lance. Upon seeing Lance's almost flirtatious grin, he shut his mouth and looked away, as Shiro gave a light laugh.

 

Across campus, Pidge kicked a soda can lightly with their food, watching as it skidded across the gravel. It was cold outside - and all they had was a thin green t-shirt, their jacket discarded on the bed in their haste to get the hell out of there.   
Sniffing slightly, they wrapped their arms around themself trying to keep themselves warm in the cold breeze of evening - although it was the summer months.

They cursed Lance - cursed themselves. All they wanted was to curl up in bed and sleep for days, but they'd managed to fuck that all up. They'd fucked up their relationship with these people, and now they weren't going to find out anything and this whole stupid scheme would've been a total waste.  
Pidge wished for much simpler societal conventions - where people didn't have to dance around their intentions. Where they could go up to any one of their flatmates and go "Hi there, I'm looking to find out what the fuck happened to my missing brother and father. By any chance did you kidnap/murder them?"

They winced at that last part. 

Their family was still out there somewhere. And they'd come home safe and it'd all be okay because they'd all be together again. Pushing the thoughts of their demise out of their mind, as well as those of the mother that they'd left behind, Pidge continued walking.

Pidge had gone soft. They were only seventeen - not yet old enough to be in university, but they supposed that was Katie - not Pidge. Pidge was eighteen. Pidge was a masculine manly man except for the part where they'd absolutely fucked that up by being stupid enough to be caught wearing a binder. Everything was starting to unravel and they hated hated hated it. Pidge felt like they were losing their grasp on the fake reality that they'd made for themself. Pidge and Katie were starting to blur into one and the same, and she no longer had the energy nor the will to drag them apart. THEY. They didn't have the energy. She was for Katie and Pidge wasn't Katie. 

Letting out a heavy sigh, Pidge flopped onto a bench, leaning back and shutting their eyes. They took deep breaths - in and out - as they desperately tried to calm the storm forming within them.  
They supposed that they could just go back - pretend that none of this had ever happened. Like a broken computer, just restart from the last working point and go on from there. Leaving and never coming back was an option to. They could take their bike and just go. Go where? Home? 

It wasn't much of a home without dad or Matt. Opening their eyes, Pidge slowly lifted their feet onto the bench and dragged their knees to their chest, curling up into a small ball as they rested their chin on their knees and exhaled, letting out a puff of air which condensed into a small cloud before dissappearing into the cold atmosphere.

Pidge was only vaguely aware of footsteps growing closer until they were wrenched from their laments by a familiar voice.

"Mind if I sit?"

They looked up to the voice, only to find Lotor looking back at them - his long white hair tied in a loose plait over his left shoulder, a purple scarf around his neck. There was a weak smile across his face as he awaited their answer.

"Oh, uh, sure. Go ahead." Pidge muttered, shifting away a little as they put their feet back on the ground. Lotor sat down next to them, albeit a little closer than Pidge would've liked - though he didn't have that same menacing atmosphere about him as when they'd met before.

There was silence between them until Lotor spoke.

"I heard all the commotion upstairs. Did you guys have a fight or something?" He asked, somewhat innocently, as he tilted his head to the side a little and narrowed his eyes.

"I suppose you could say that." Pidge sighed as Lotor shrugged airily.

"I get it. I used to be on the floor above you - Marmora - but I didn't get along with them at all. I swapped with a guy in the Galra dorm and everything seemed to work out," He paused for a moment.  
"Though I suppose at least the Marmora guys weren't as crazy as those in your dorm when that whole shitstorm went down." 

"What 'shitstorm'?"

Lotor let out a small gasp that seemed distinctly fake as his eyes widened and he looked away.

"You don't know...?"

Pidge could feel their heart start to race.

"What is it?"

Lotor frowned, looking to be in deep thought, before sighing and giving a light shrug.

"I guess it's better that I tell you before you get the warped version from your roommates." He said, in a matter-of-factly tone, as he glanced at Pidge - not quite catching their eye.

"... Before you came - in like, the second week or something police came into the dorms, wanting to speak to everybody. Apparently there'd been some guy that was supposed to turn up to enroll, but he never did. They couldn't get in contact with him and his family knew nothing."

Pidge felt a lump in their throat, and almost had to blink away rapidly forming tears as Lotor spoke of what Pidge assumed was their brother so casually - as if he was little more than pitiful gossip. They remembered the calls from the Garrison. They remembered calling the police. They remembered them not doing anything.

"The Garrison initially brushed it off - he got cold feet, didn't turn up, whatever. Then they found his car." Lotor lamented, shaking his head pitifully before continuing.

"... I didn't see the pictures, but my buddy Sendak's father is on the force. Said it was a bloody wreckage, in both senses of the word." 

Pidge inhaled sharply at this, but Lotor didn't seem to notice as he continued on.  
"Of course, they questioned everyone. Not like anyone had anything to say or anything to do with it." He commented, looking at Pidge who was nodding slowly in response to his statement. A glimmer of a devilish smirk appeared on Lotor's face before leaving once more as he turned away.

"Then again, people who don't have anything to hide don't tend threaten to beat up cops then bribe them into declaring it a cold case." He concluded, leaving Pidge at a complete loss for words at his revelation.  
"...Cold case?" Pidge whispered, shaking slightly as Lotor shrugged.  
"All I can say is watch out for the princess and her... boyfriend. All of them in Voltron are bad news, mark my words." Tossing his hair over his shoulder, Lotor gave a light wave as if the conversation hadn't even happened, before walking away.

Pidge opened their mouth to yell after him, but found that their were no more words to say.

 

"Okay, thank you, bye." Allura said as she removed her phone from her ear and ended the call. She placed the phone on her lap before folding her hands neatly around it.  
She looked up to find Lance's hopeful eyes looking back at her.  
"Coran says he'll keep an eye out." She stated without blinking. Lance's face fell, slightly, but he gave an eager nod all the same.

"Lance, I'm sure that Pidge is fine." She said, reaching across the kitchen table to pat his arm comfortingly as Lance sighed.  
"I know, I know, it's just... It's late. And I'm worried."

"We're all worried. But it'll be okay. Coran's looking out for Pidge and Shiro's out driving around looking for them right now." Allura responded gently, still with a hint of uncertainty in her tone.  
"Pidge won't get in the car. It'll just freak them out more." Lance sniffed, looking away from Allura.

Allura nodded silently, narrowing her lips as she tried to think of the right thing to say, before giving a small smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes.  
"Shiro won't make Pidge do anything they don't want to. Besides, he's a careful driver, if Pidge does want a back."

"...Now he is." Lance muttered under his breath, just quiet enough that Allura didn’t quite hear him.  
"What was that?"

"Nothing." Lance said quickly, shaking his head slightly. "Where's Hunk and Keith?" He asked her, furrowing his brow slightly.

"I'm cleaning up your mess!" Keith called from down the corridor in an irate tone as Allura gave an airy laugh under her breath.  
"Quit eavesdropping, you freak!" Lance yelled back, getting out of his chair and ducking his head round the doorway to glare at Keith who responded by expertly aiming a soggy chicken nugget at Lance, who quickly dodged it by ducking back into the kitchen.

"Since you're so omniscient, where's Hunk?" Lance asked from the safety of the kitchen.  
"Begging Thace to let us use their vacuum since you broke ours 'jousting' last week." Keith responded without batting an eyelid, only raising an eyebrow lazily when he heard Allura give a screech of "You did WHAT?!" from the kitchen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took a hell of a long time to get out mostly because it was gonna be a super long chapter but I decided to split it into two and get the other bit posted later on ♡   
> I'm honestly having a blast with this & although I know it isn't as popular as my other works, it's what I want to write so I guess that makes it okay? c:
> 
> Comments and kudos are so greatly appreciated & along with the next chapter I'll be posting the layout of the dorms because I know it might make it easier to visualise! Love you all, stay strong and lovely xx


End file.
